Delayed for a while
by rach0486
Summary: During Jack and Sam's wedding, Jack is called to help the Asgard with a problem with Ba'al...WARNING: Character Death!


STARGATE SG-1: Delayed for a while  
  
Summary: During Jack and Sam's wedding, Jack is called to help the Asgard with a problem with Ba'al. WARNING: character death!  
  
Category: Tragedy/Romance  
  
Season: future (probably about 10-ish)  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Warning: CHARACTER DEATH!  
  
Spoilers: Abyss  
  
Pairing: Jack/Sam (as always)  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine! (but that's not without wishing!)  
  
Author's note: Response to a challenge (sort of) but can't remember which one. It was supposed to be happy but then, somehow, turned really depressing. Ah well, such is life! Please R&R. Cheers.  
  
Delayed for a while  
  
It was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. And it was. To start with. Everything was in place - the flowers, the band, even the carnations for his lapel had arrived on time.  
  
The commissary had been completely transformed into the reception and the finishing touches were being put to the cake.  
  
Jack stood at the front of the church in his spotless tuxedo. His feet simply refused to stay still as he involuntarily paced the two or three feet in front of his chair.  
  
"Second thoughts?" Daniel asked following him with his eyes.  
  
Jack shook his head.  
  
"Worried she's having second thoughts?" he prodded further. Jack froze on the spot.  
  
"Why? Did she say she was?"  
  
"No of course not."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes! Will you relax! Everything's gonna be perfect. OK?"  
  
Jack sat down next to Daniel and tried his damndest to stay calm. Ever since the guests had started to filter into the church, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. It wasn't that he didn't want to marry her. He did! Very much so! And it wasn't that he thought she would back out either. It was just . something. He was about to resume his pacing when the organ began to play. Everyone stood to their feet and turned. As Jack saw her at the other end of the aisle, all fear and doubts left him and all he could do was watch the beauty that was walking towards him.  
  
She looked radiant. But then, she always did to him. From that first day at Cheyenne, he had loved her. Though it was a different kind of love then to know. Then, all he had wanted to do was throw her across the briefing table and screw her senseless. Now, he wanted to take her in his arms and make love to her for the rest of their life together.  
  
Not that all he felt for her was physical. Time had shown him that. Yes, he knew that the more he couldn't have her, the more he wanted her. But as the beauty of her personality began to outshine the beauty of her face, the raw passion inside had subsided to let the tender, companionable emotio0ns grow until they equalled his passion.  
  
When she was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on the day he retired, he could remember the feeling of pride he was struck with on seeing her take command of SG1. Hammond had asked him to stay on as a strategic consultant at the SGC which he had agreed to. It was a far cry from his own command but at least he got to see her each day.  
  
That had been a year ago now and he could still remember every detail of their first kiss. Well, their first kiss without the bounds of regulations over them at least.  
  
It had been a cool spring evening, about a month after his retirement. SG1 had just returned from a successful treaty meeting with the people pf P2A-981 and she was positively beaming because of it.  
  
They were just sat on his back porch, drinking beer when the light of the stars glinted in her eyes. It was the most incredible sight she had seen to this day. It stopped all conversation for the briefest, yet longest moment in Jack's existence. He had been about to break the tension between them by offering another beer when she reached her hand to his cheek, fixing his eyes firmly in hers. After that, it was hard to tell who made the next move, they just instinctively moved together in the first of many kisses that were to go between the two souls.  
  
She smiled as he took her hand from Jacob. God! Could she ever knock him out with that smile! How she could show the innocence of a child and yet be just on the verge of sultry at the same time. It - like the rest of her - was breath-taking.  
  
Someone - probably his father - had once told him that if a man has not found anything worth dying for, he isn't fit to live. Well, he had found his something. She was stood right next to him and would be for the rest of their lives. No matter how brief they would turn out to be.  
  
He felt her weave her fingers in with his as they stood in front of the priest. A smile spread across Jack's face as he felt the warmth and love the gesture conveyed. God, he loved her so much! More than she would ever know in this lifetime.  
  
The priest began.  
  
"We are gathered here today to witness the joining of this man and this woman in the act of holy matrimony ."  
  
As he continued, Jack glanced at her and was astonished at how difficult he found it to turn his gaze away again. He had memorised every detail of her face so that when he closed his eyes, there she was, smiling at him. Still, every time he saw her, he felt as if he was seeing her for the first time.  
  
"Do you, Samantha Emily Carter take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?" asked the priest.  
  
Sam turned and met his gaze. He could see her eyes sparkling with delight through the veil.  
  
"I do," she replied, smiling wider than ever before.  
  
"And do you Jonathan Luke O'Neill take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?"  
  
"I d -" that was all he was able to say. Before he could finish the response, a brilliant white light engulfed him and tore him from her side.  
  
Sam felt his grasp on her hand turn to nothing as the beam of light sped off, travelling further and further up, away from her.  
  
"NO! God! Why today?!" she exclaimed, furious about the delay.  
  
"Sam calm down. I'm sure it's nothing," Janet said trying to console her. But Sam wasn't buying it.  
  
"Oh, sure. Cause Thor is always dropping in for a chat! Seriously, when I get my hands on the little guy, I'll snap him in half!"  
  
"Jack was just as furious when he arrived on Thor's ship. Soon, though his fury dwindled and was replaced by concern that soon became mind numbing fear.  
  
Somewhere along the corridor there were sounds - footsteps (which was the first indication that something was wrong). The second came in the form of a voice.  
  
"Jaffa! Kree!" It sounded synthesised, electronic - Goa'uld.  
  
"Ah, crap!" Jack muttered under his breath.  
  
There was little time to even think about countering the offensive as six Jaffa came marching along the corridor, heading right his way. He quickly hid himself in one of the inlets in the corridor and watched as the first group of three Jaffa marched past with Thor chained between them. The second group to come past surprised Jack somewhat. It wasn't three Jaffa, but two, plus Ba'al.  
  
As soon as the coast was clear again, Jack made a beeline for the transportation pad and was soon, thankfully, back in one of the back rooms of the church he had been in before. He quickly made his way back to the main church to find Sam and warn Hammond about what was going on.  
  
When he entered, he saw that all non-SGC personnel had been moved to a different part of the building. This of course only included the priest, plus Mark carter (Sam's brother) and his family.  
  
"Jack!" Sam said as she ran into his arms. "Oh thank God! What happened?"  
  
Jack glanced down at the floor, pained to even think about what he had to tell her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, an indication that something was seriously wrong.  
  
"What? What is it?" she said, beginning to feel the terrible sinking feeling seeping into her nerves.  
  
Jack looked her directly in the eye. "Ba'al's taken control of Thor's ship. They're in orbit right now."  
  
Sam's hands clasped over her mouth in horror. She knew what would be coming next.  
  
"Sam, I think we're gonna have to delay the wedding for a while. Just until we know what's happening up there."  
  
Every one of his words seemed to stick in his throat like treacle. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to say to anyone. The fact that he was saying it to her made them all the more worse.  
  
But she seemed to understand. She nodded, half in defeat, half resolved. Before he could move off to announce the crisis to everyone else, she took his face in her hands and kissed him as if she would never see him again.  
  
'Damn it, Sam! You're not making this any easier!' he thought as they broke apart.  
  
They stood for a moment in each others arms, staring at the other, willing them to be the first to move away. A single tear fell down Sam's cheek. Jack brushed it away with his thumb, kissed her tenderly on the forehead and walked off to make the announcement.  
  
Sam watched Jack as he called everyone together and explained the situation. She couldn't help but fear for him, though she didn't know why. There was just an awful feeling the emanated from the pit of her stomach and spread through her like wildfire. There was something terrible going to happen today. Something that would change both their lives for ever and it wasn't for the better. As he spoke, she refused to take her eyes off him for fear he would be pulled away from her for ever.  
  
Before long, the whole of the SGC had been transferred back to the base and it was as if they hadn't had a moment's intermission. All operations were resumed as the mountain went on high alert. Not that there was much anyone was reporting. The Asgard ship was still cloaked and so no-one who was watching deep space had picked up on its presence.  
  
Sam still had that eerie, sick feeling playing on her mind as she sat down at the controls and placed her head set on over her ears. Her veil had long since been discarded but in the rush and confusion, she hadn't had a chance to change into fatigues and so was still in her white silk wedding dress that, even though didn't flair out from the waist, still left a two foot train behind her, which was decidedly awkward for swift movement around the base. She could see Jack in the Gate Room below, ordering troops around like he'd never left. She desperately wanted to get to him, to voice her concerns for what was happening and would happen in the next 24 hours. But she was needed where she was.  
  
All of a sudden, all hell broke lose in the control room as reports flooded in that the ship in orbit had uncloaked and a message was being transmitted to them. As it was patched through to them, Hammond set it onto the speakers and Ba'al's voice was broadcast all over the base.  
  
"Colonel Jack O'Neill!" he said in a menacing voice.  
  
Jack froze in the Gate Room as the message filtered through the intercom. There was the usual Goa'uld rhetoric that basically boiled down to Goa'uld superior, Humans bad. Then came the point of the message.  
  
". You took what was mine, Tau'ri. Now I shall destroy what is yours."  
  
As the message ended, there was a blinding glare of light in the control room. Jack shielded his eyes from the sight until it had subsided. When he finally did look back, the whole place was in uproar. But no matter how much activity there was, jack couldn't move. His eyes were fixed on one point in the control room and nothing, not even a heard of wild horses, could have turned him away.  
  
The point that held him so fixedly was the point where Sam had been sat before being taken aboard the orbiting ship. All that was left was her empty chair and a lot of confusion around it.  
  
"Deep space report the Asgard vessel is leaving our orbit and preparing for Hyper-launch, sir," the technician told Hammond.  
  
Jack, over-hearing every word, suddenly bolted from the Gate Room to the nearest screen that showed the ship's progress. He arrived just in time to see it disappear from their radar.  
  
"NO!" he cursed, slamming his fists into the concrete wall beside him. "Sir, request permission to launch a rescue party."  
  
Hammond looked at him. "We don't even know where he'll take her, Colonel."  
  
"I do!" Jack said hurriedly. "Ba'al said in the message, I took what was his. He's talking about Shallin, sir. They'll be headed to that same outpost, sir."  
  
"Why would he wait four years to come after you?"  
  
Daniel stepped in to answer him. "Well, Yu probably left the outpost completely destroyed. It's more than likely that he's spent the time rebuilding, sir."  
  
Hammond gave them the go, right there and then. The only thing he regretted was that they didn't have the resources to launch a full air attack.  
  
SG teams 1 through 5 were ready in record time and the rescue mission was off and running. As Jack led them through, he couldn't help thinking about how much he had missed going through the gate like this, ready to do battle. He only wished Sam was by his side in this, rather than on the other side, in the clutches of some crazy, over-dressed, slimy, snake-assed Goa'uld.  
  
It wasn't long before they met heavy resistance from enemy Jaffa and it took a surprisingly short amount of time to actually find Sam.  
  
She was in a bad way when Jack reached her. Ba'al had already begun his torture of her - much as he had when had had captured Jack.  
  
Later, when thinking back on what happened, all the events became a single blur in Jack's head - the fire fight, releasing Thor, blowing up the outpost once and for all.  
  
But one thing was so incredibly clear that it hurt. Despite their victory over Ba'al, jack had still lost. He had lost Sam.  
  
As they ran back to the gate, a group of Jaffa - who had survived the destruction of their god - had followed them and apprehended them. Jack had been dialling as everyone else lay down cover fire. But it wasn't enough. As the gate activated, one Jaffa had a clear shot at him. Sam had seen the danger he was in and pushed him out of the way, taking the full brunt of the staff blast upon herself.  
  
With all the strength she had left in her, she fired upon the Jaffa and had the satisfaction of seeing him fall before she drew her last living breath.  
  
Jack stepped through the event horizon carrying her lifeless body in his arms. Little did he care about the blood that was spilling from her and onto his hands. He just wanted to keep her close by. To know she was safe even if that meant she was so far away from him; that nothing could bring her near to him again.  
  
He was vaguely aware of people around him, watching as he sat and cradled her in his arms. He traced the line of her face, committing it to memory one last time. The colour and warmth was quickly fading from her cheeks as he was finally pulled out of his silent grieving by Janet.  
  
"Jack," she said quietly.  
  
"The outpost was destroyed. Ba'al's dead," he said, as if he were a voice mail recording.  
  
He turned his attention back to his bride and was comforted by the expression on her face - not of fear or of pain. She looked contented and at peace. Not afraid of dying, but safe in the knowledge that she had saved Jack's life.  
  
The fact that that had been at the cost of her own life was almost to hard for Jack to bare, though. It should have been him lying lifeless on the ramp. Not her. Or better still; they should have both been there to celebrate their victory and live out their life together. But what kind of celebration could there be without her? Was he supposed to just shrug it off and say 'Oh well, at least we won'? He knew he'd never say that. Right then, he felt as if he'd never smile again. Not in the way she made him smile anyway.  
  
A medical team cautiously stepped up and carried her away from him. They carried her, almost ceremoniously, to the infirmary. Everyone they passed was stunned to silence. A silence that Jack heard beating against his ears like a lost heart beat that faded the further from him she was.  
  
As he stood up, Jack was aware of Janet guiding him towards the blast doors and towards the elevator. She didn't say anything - or if she did, Jack wasn't aware of it. He wasn't aware of much, to be honest, just the fact that Sam was gone. They reached the surface and he finally realised what was going on.  
  
Janet was giving him a ride home, to give him a chance to process what had gone on. Of course, home was the last place he wanted to go.  
  
He placed his hand over hers as the car started up. "I want to go to her house," he said steadily. Just knowing it was where she had been recently was enough to make him want to stay there and never leave.  
  
Janet wasn't so sure about the wisdom of his request. But who was she to argue? There was no way she could find the strength to oppose him, not after he had been through on that planet. Also, losing her best friend like that had left her so shaken up that the only thing keeping her from breaking down was the fact that she had to be there for Jack. Reluctantly, she drove to Sam's house.  
  
Jack entered first, taking in every detail of his new surroundings - the pictures on the wall in the hallway, the books staked neatly on the shelves in the living room.  
  
The living room was uncharacteristically messy at this moment in time. There were boxes and all sorts strewn about the place, all baring the names of various bridal shops in the area. On the coffee table was an empty champagne bottle and four empty glasses.  
  
He picked one of them up and held it to the light. He caught sight of the lipstick imprint left on the rim - her lipstick, he could tell by the shade.  
  
Instantly, his mind raced and he pictured the moment when she had left that part of her there. Perhaps in a toast offered up by one of the company there. He could hear her laughing at some well timed joke that was said. He remembered the nights they spent together, the way the world fell away when she kissed him. He remembered the look of childish joy on her face the day he slid the engagement ring onto her finger. He remembered her smile, her unique scent, her enchanting eyes. He remembered how much he loved her - more than life itself; more than she had ever known (in this lifetime at least).  
  
His hand began to shake and the glass slipped from his fingers, just like its owner had dome only minutes ago. The sound of it hitting the carpet shattered what was left of Jack's blank façade. A violent torrent of emotion hit him as his knees gave way and he collapsed to the floor, so over come by grief that all he could manage were dry, painful tears that echoed around the walls of his empty heart.  
  
Janet watched the pitiful scene from by the door, unable to will her voice to say some words of comfort to him. But she knew she couldn't leave him to suffer alone. He had to know other people were here for him.  
  
She crossed the room to him and sank onto the floor next to him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.  
  
Before she had time to comprehend what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her, grateful for the contact. She returned the gesture. They stayed in each other's comforting, understanding embrace until there were no more tears to cry.  
  
This wasn't real. It couldn't have been. It had been surreal enough having bury Charlie all that time ago but this was beyond surreal. This was torture. Jack had the same numb feeling throughout his body that he had experienced at Charlie's funeral. Today felt a lot like then, from what was said to what he thought.  
  
Charlie's funeral had been so stereotypical it was almost like something in a movie. The rain had been falling hard all day. He and Sara were stood under the umbrella but still felt the rift between them widen as the coffin was lowered into the ground. He was alone then and was alone now. Though today he didn't have the comfort of the rain to remind him he was still alive. All that was here was the bleak glare of the August sun beating down on him. He couldn't hear anything and hadn't been able to since her death. Sounds had become distant echoes that haunted him as if he was barely part of the world anymore.  
  
As she was lowered into the ground, Jack's first instinct was to jump in after her and be buried with her. That way, he'd know she was safe. He'd be going with her.  
  
A comforting hand reached and took his, shaking him from his morbid thoughts. He glanced to see who it was. Cassie met his gaze with a mixture of sympathy and sorrow.  
  
"Do you want a ride back home?" she asked, her voice thick with tears.  
  
"No, I'm gonna stay here for a bit." Jack was amazed his voice still existed.  
  
Cassie smiled thinly and walked up the grass bank to where Janet, Daniel and Teal'c were waiting.  
  
"Is he gonna be OK?" Daniel asked.  
  
"I don't know. He wants to stay there for a bit. I think we should just leave him. He needs to sort his head out," Cassie replied with a sorrowful look back at the man she regarded as a father. It pained her greatly to see him like this.  
  
Reluctantly, the rest of the group agreed to her thoughts and moved on to the black limo waiting to take them away from the funeral.  
  
Jack stood and watched until the last of the earth was covering her coffin. Even then, he didn't move for a good few hours. Just knowing that this was where she was and always would be was enough to paralyse him to the spot.  
  
Night began to close in around him and the cold air snapped at him as the gentle breeze whipped up into a bitterly cold wind. Taking in a deep, resolved breath, Jack stepped forward and placed the bouquet of flowers he had been holding over the freshly laid soil of her grave. He paused, yet again, crouched by her side, reading the perfectly engraved words of her tomb stone:  
  
Lt. Col. Samantha Emily Carter.  
United States Air Force.  
1966-2006  
  
Forty was too young for anyone to die and especially someone as incredible as she was. It had been a week since she died and it nearly killed jack every time he reminded himself to think of her in the past tense. Everywhere he went, he expected to walk around the corner and see her there. The only place he really saw her was when he closed his eyes and had the image of her face imbedded on his mind's eye.  
  
He kissed the top of her tombstone and reluctantly walked away from her. He didn't dare glance back in fear he wouldn't be able to leave her ever. The only thing he could wish for was for her to haunt him until he, himself, could die too. God! He loved her so much! More than she would ever know. Not in this lifetime at least.  
  
Over the following weeks and months, Jack returned to her side as often as he could bear. He didn't replace the flowers he had laid there when she was buried. They had long since shrivelled and died. The petals were cast to the wind and scattered like ashes on the ground. What was left roughly resembled the state of his heart - cold and dead, yet always remaining with her.  
  
The only thing that had survived the elements from that day had been the card he placed with the flowers. It was a quote he kept with him even now. Some of the letters had faded in the sun or run with the rain but it was still clear to read.  
  
It read:  
Death cannot stop love.  
All it can do is delay it for a while. 


End file.
